REDEEMED PIONEER

  He knew, ahead of time, that He would pay with His Life for ALL the unspeakable evil in this world….AND HE DID IT ANYWAY. Two weeks ago I posted  ONVOORWAARDELIKE LIEFDE DEUR ONBESKRYFLIKE LYDING (UNCONDITIONAL LOVE THROUGH INDESCRIBABLE SUFFERING), a reflection of a journey I undertook last year to discover the details of Jesus’ crucifixion on my Afrikaans blog,  VrygekoopteBaanbreker.     I translated portions of that for use in this reflection.    Truth be told, I was left dumbstruck last year.    The diabolical level of sadism with which Jesus was slaughtered, silenced me into mute heartbreak.    After Easter weekend, I wrote the following words on a blank page, How on earth did this, what appears to be, oxymoronic schizophrenic-like turn of events take place?    How did these people go from selfless acts of righteous worship on Palm Sunday to becoming a reckless mob of bloodthirsty murderous savages on Good Friday, hellbent on self-righteous vengeance? I decided to continue my j

  ”In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.“ ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭16‬:‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬ Dearest little Stitch Today you are a tiny six-week-one-day-old embryo hidden deep within your mommy’s womb, but you have already overcome almost insurmountable odds.    For at least a week now, your mommy has been experiencing cramps and bleeding, and when the pregnancy hormone hCG in her blood took a nosedive yesterday, your chances of surviving until today were determined to be, at best, 10% (1 out of 10).    However, this morning the unthinkable happened, your mommy’s hCG increased by 3,000 units, her bleeding ceased and the ultrasound showed that you are still unharmed.    Your mommy’s doctor revealed that, from today’s evidence, you have indeed defied a 99% chance of miscarriage and not 90% as originally estimated.  I am so incredibly overwhelmed with joyful gratitude to the Lord for your life.    I write this letter to you as an introduction and it will be available on

Anybody who has ever had to undergo any kind of operation or procedure knows that an operating theatre is a cold, clinical, and sterile place.    The absence of both warmth and a feeling of safety is more than enough to unsettle even the most confident patient.     But what happens when the blood in the veins of the warm-blooded people (theatre staff) runs as icy cold as the stainless steel around them?     They now have the ability not only to make precision incisions into outer body parts with scalpels, but also to slash gashes into inner dignity with indifferent disrespect.     Before anesthesia, all patients are vulnerable and exposed, and depending on the invasive/intrusive nature of the operation or procedure, they could well be powerlessly subjected to the possible violation of their deepest hidden fear of having their nudity shamelessly exposed.     This can cause indescribable trauma and unlock complex emotions, especially for fragile, previously-traumatized individuals.     P

  DISCLAIMER : Although characters and situations in this story are based on actual people, institutions and events, the story was created as a work of fiction, intended to NOT misrepresent any actual individual and/or situation.    Generic names have been used with the sole purpose of avoiding any racial stereotyping and promoting the notion that ALL people have the need to find belonging in a group where it is safe to share their lives with others, free of judgment and discrimination. The atmosphere is festive and the mood is happy.    A group of people representing multiple ethnic orientations of South Africa’s beautiful Rainbow Nation and varying in age from teenage to eighty-something are seated around a square-ish table listening to a speaker who promises to keep the speech very short.    The speaker succeeds in keeping it short while informing the audience about the origin of the event they are about to celebrate and then ends off with instruction of a practical, light-hearted a

  “First, you douse it with Doom to incapacitate it and then you stomp on it or smite the last life out of it with a fly swatter.    Point is, after you’re done, it is as dead as a door nail!”    Valerie appears somewhat traumatised by Jaime’s words.    She was going to suggest that Jaime catch the rain spider onto a piece of paper or something and then set it free outside, which is exactly what she would have done.    Valerie decides against voicing her suggestion to Jaime, and instead, she smiles at her friend on the computer screen before they resume the official part of their scheduled Zoom meeting.    Valerie knows that behind Jaime’s harsh serial-bug-killer exterior, she hides a vulnerable tender heart. Despite Jaime’s dominant temperament which renders her fearless of confronting injustice, it only extends to confrontation with members of the human species and not necessarily beyond that.    Truth be told, confrontation with most bug types and crawling/slithering creatures, can